Yemen war makes reaching assistance too dangerous for many

In an alert, the agency said that tens of thousands of refugees and asylum seekers were struggling to survive.

It described a rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis for more than 65,000 refugees and asylum seekers in Yemen, as “escalating insecurity, economic collapse, depleting resources and severe humanitarian access constraints leave tens of thousands with nowhere to turn”.

Despite intensifying conflict between Houthi opposition fighters and Government forces which escalated last month and ended a four-year ceasefire, thousands of people continue to risk dangerous sea crossings from the Horn of Africa to Yemen, said UNHCR spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh.

Access heavily restricted

Aid teams are particularly worried about the situation in Kharaz refugee camp in the southwestern governorate of Lahj, close to the front line.

The camp shelters around 9,500 refugees from Somalia and Ethiopia in a Government-controlled area. Although no refugee casualties have been verified so far, “nearby shelling has disrupted services and led to movement restrictions for those in the camps…who have already previously fled conflict”, Mr. Saltmarsh noted.

UNHCR partners have distributed food inside the camp in coordination with local authorities, and health assistance and water provision continue, with significant difficulty. But most other services are on hold, with schools suspended, legal and documentation services interrupted and the rising prices of fuel and staple foods making it increasingly difficult for refugees to cover their basic needs.

“When access allows, we do move in that assistance, but it has been challenging,” Mr. Saltmarsh said. “We’ve been hearing a lot that a number of displaced people have been unable to get to places where we have our supplies and our assistance… in many cases, it’s been too dangerous for us to get to them.”

According to UNHCR, more than 280,000 people in Yemen have been displaced by the fighting. The significant increase in humanitarian needs has coincided with severe supply chain shocks in the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, linked to the US-Iran war, while resources available to help them are falling short. Today, the agency’s appeal for Yemen only 19 per cent funded.

Relief supplies on the way

In a positive development, the agency announced that it has secured pro bono transport support for 11 containers of emergency relief items from Dubai to Yemen, “although shifting security conditions and logistical constraints are challenging those delivery efforts”, Mr. Saltmarsh noted. 

“Those 11 containers should arrive tomorrow, bringing 3,000 relief kits to over 20,000 people in Yemen,” he added, before warning that the agency’s operations in Sudan, Djibouti and Ethiopia are among the most exposed to disrupted trade and shipping in the Red Sea.